Inflated Ego
by Warm Regards
Summary: Even the bravest of police officers have their personal fears, no matter how strange. For Judy Hopps, it was a matter of admitting this to her prankster of a partner. One-shot.


A/N: I originally wrote this fic (most of it, anyway) back in 2016. It's been three years in hibernation. I found it again a few weeks ago and decided to polish it up, add more details, and go for it. Hopefully my characters sound like themselves, that is always my biggest concern. Thanks for reading!

* * *

While she considered herself an accommodating bunny, Judy had to confess: she absolutely, positively _hated_ the sound of popping balloons.

Now, distaste for loud noises wasn't a Judy thing as much as it was a rabbit thing. For her family—heck, the majority of Bunnyburrow, really—the harsh cackles of thunder or the sputtering of a broken van or even the mere sharp wind blowing inside one's ears were enough to send shivers down one's fluffy back.

But for Judy, the noise a balloon made when it popped was the worst of all.

At least with thunder she could know that with a spot of light there would soon be sound. At least with the car sputters she could mitigate the noise by doing some repair work. At least with the sharp wind she could drape a scarf over her ears to lessen the impact.

But balloons? For the love of _godwit, _it seemed that balloons popped always at the worst time imaginable. One second they are whole, the next they explode. Or worse, one popped when it was close to the body. Close to the ears. Close to a certain bunny's ears thereby causing mild pain and shock.

The anticipation of watching a balloon, _praying_ it wouldn't pop, was an exhausting chore for Judy. One that she nonetheless became accustomed to handling.

The worst part was the fact that a popping balloon wasn't the main catalyst for her fear. It was a large part of it, yes, but not the whole story.

It all started when Judy was young. Her family often went to the County Fair. Her mom would enter her blueberry pie for the contest, while her father would compete in the largest carrot completion. Judy and her siblings were often left to their own devices. And because the Hopp family easily surpassed the 100s in terms of family size, Judy often wandered about the County Fair with her brothers and sisters.

There were many fun sights to behold. Around every corner there was a sight to behold. Some families were taking a stab at selling some overgrown flowers. The local musicians were strumming along another relaxing ballad about love. The face painting booth was always fun as ticklish brush strokes painted Judy's cheeks with bright colors.

Then along came Gideon Grey. He decided to cause trouble for Judy—didn't he always?

A mature, grown up Judy knew perfectly well that mammals aren't all black and white, they are made of shades of grey.

However, a young Judy would have claimed Gideon to have no bright spots. It certainly felt like that back then, anyway.

There were the infamous scratches he gave to Judy when she was nine after her breathtaking performance (_thank you very much) _in her school play on careers.

On several occasions, he stole her lunch only to later throw it out in disgust and say, "Cheese and crackers _again?"_

More than once he tore her homework up before she had to hand them into teachers.

And of course, he had the bright idea to constantly mock her and her siblings. Mostly her, because she dared to fight back.

He didn't know when to quit, but unfortunately for them both, neither did she.

Judy grew accustomed to her fox foe. She didn't speak much of it to her parents, though, because even as a kit she disliked hearing of their rambling on why foxes were bad. That got annoying really fast.

Just because Gideon was a fox—a mean, rude fox—didn't mean all foxes were bad.

Of course, she has to concede that she didn't know any other foxes in her childhood other than Gideon. And he didn't paint a pretty picture. Quite literally, too; she recalled him having difficulty in their art classes. She wondered if a small part of his animosity stemmed from jealousy over her decent drawings.

Regardless, Judy then and now was not willing to make broad assumptions.

Back to the County Fair, it typically had the privilege of being held on a bright sunny day.

Gideon, meanwhile had the not-so-bright idea to bother her and her siblings.

"Nice flowers, Judy," she heard his voice say behind her back as she skipped down the dirt road.

Judy froze and slowly turned to face him. Her little siblings ran into her back due to the abrupt pause. She stood still as she peered at Gideon's smug face. Her siblings followed her stare, then immediately moved further away from the fox.

She pointed to her cheeks that had just been painted. "You like my face flowers?"

Gideon chortled. "Yeah. They make ya look like the pansy ya are."

She puffed her cheeks and grumbled. She felt one of her sisters tugging at her arm, insisting to leave well enough (or bad enough, as this case was) alone.

Judy leered at him with her still puffed cheeks. It took all her strength not to stoop to his level and make fun of his ragged overalls or his mud stained slacks, just to get even with him. He made it so easy.

Instead she said, "You're missing out."

"_Judy…" _one of her siblings whined while pulling her arm a little harder.

Gideon turned up his snout. "Your siblings are ya bodyguards now?" He chuckled. "Figures."

Judy was getting more enraged by the second. Breaking loose from her sibling's grasp, she moved a few steps closer to the fox. "My brothers and sisters aren't _anyone's _bodyguards, Gideon."

"Oh, really?"

She gave him a half lidded look of contempt. "Who needs protection? It's not like you'll hurt anyone." Folding her arms, she added, "Unless you are dumb enough to actually fight. I'm _sure_ everyone will brush it away this time."

He growled but made no movement to strike her. At least, no movement that could actually physically hurt.

With a knowing smile, Judy let out a scoff of pride. "Give it up, _Gid_." She looked back at her siblings who were still somewhat unsure at what was unfolding. "Come on guys." She began to walk to the younger bunnies and was about to make her epic exit.

Behind her back she heard Gideon snarl and begin thrashing the haystack behind him. He must have been aiming high, for one of his punches had reached a floating balloon and caused a noticeable sound:

_Pop!_

"Ah!" Judy perked her ears at the sudden noise.

It seemingly had shocked her more than her siblings, but they all were spooked when they heard the explosion, evident when most of them quickly wrapped their ears around their cheeks.

She turned about in a rapid manner and met Gideon's surprised face.

Judy stared at her foe of a fox and scolded, "Gideon Grey, _what did you do that for?!_" Her ears were still raised up high to match the pitch in her anger.

"Do what, Judy?" His face melted into smug face of bullying satisfaction. Why did he even get joy from being inconsiderate? "I didn't lay a paw on ya."

She prodded closer, ears slightly droopy. She looked straight up in his unwavering eyes and said, "You know what you did!"

He played dumb; it wasn't hard for him, Judy reflected. He then let out an annoying, "Oooohhhh," as he reached for another balloon. "You don't mean anythin' relatin' to this here balloon, do ya?"

She froze.

Gideon had a cocky grin on his face. He said, "Aww, is the little bunny rabbit scared of a balloon?"

Judy's eyes roved side to side. She tried to keep steady but it was hard when she knew what he was suggesting. "You're wasting your time, Gideon."

He gently massaged the balloon in his paws. "Nah, I don' have much else goin' on today."

Judy stood stout, which was increasingly harder when Gideon just stood there petting the balloon.

She told her siblings, "Stand back, you guys." The little bunnies hastily obliged by going several feet away. Judy then stepped forward a bit with a stern look on her face and her foot tapping in a slow rhythm.

Gideon hadn't been easily intimidated. "What's the matter?" He grabbed a nearby floating balloon. He then held it in his claws as he moved closer to Judy.

She stepped back but reached a wall of a game booth.

Holding the balloon to her face. "Scared it might…" He gripped tightly.

And right on cue, the balloon imploded and went

_POP!_

Judy shrieked. She quickly covered her ears with her paws, but just as quickly dropped them. "I am not scared!"

Gideon gave a mean grin as he reached for another balloon, a red one this time, tied to the haystack behind him.

She shoved him a little with her skakey arms. "Knock it off, Gideon!" She looked anxious; she hated that he caused her those feelings.

He responded by grabbing the balloon and popping the balloon close to her face.

She winced and flinched and felt her ears ringing. Her ears drooped but it didn't help much.

"Ya know what people have been sayin'? They sayin' I should be wearing a moosle because I'm 'too dangerous'!"

Judy looked up and frowned. "It's pronounced 'muzzle', Gideon. And maybe …" She hesitated finishing the sentence, but forced herself to speak. "Maybe if you weren't such a jerk people wouldn't be saying that!"

He widened his eyes and then scowled. "Shut it, Judy!"

He grabbed another balloon from behind his back, a yellow one, quickly brought it near Judy's ears, and popped it.

This prompted her to wince in pain.

"See? You're nothin' but a scaredy bunny!"

Swallowing her pride and covering her ears with her paws, Judy angrily stepped back to join her siblings.

She yelled out, "You're a jerk, Gideon Grey!" while walking backwards before turning around. Together with her brothers and sisters, the bunnies sped away from the fox.

Judy did not see his expression to her shout. She did not, however, miss what he shouted right back at her as she walked further away.

"Don' worry, Judy!" Gideon said. "If not by me, balloons will _always_ pop. And you never know if a balloon gonna pop 'til they do!"

She froze for a second to let his words sink in, but her anger quickly overtook her and she walked farther away from her bully.

Once her siblings and she had gotten far away enough, they paused to catch their breaths.

She stood against a vacant pole to collect her thoughts.

"Judy," one of her little sisters said. "That was really scary."

Judy agreed, but she couldn't verbalize the same sentiment. So instead she told her siblings, "It wasn't that bad, guys." With a smile she added, "Let's go find mom and dad, okay?"

Her siblings, hand in hand in hand, scampered off to find their parents.

Judy inhaled and started walking alone.

That is until something purple caught her eye.

Looking up she saw a lone balloon wrapped around the pole, trying to float out of the shadows and into the sunny sky.

She smiled; purple was her favorite color.

She reached for the balloon then hesitated.

Balloons were scary..?

That was stupid, wasn't it? A balloon was a joyful bundle of air that danced in the wind.

Excited and determined to prove herself brave, she unraveled the string around the pole and brought the shiny balloon to her face. She smiled as she saw her reflection in a purple hair.

Unfortunately, as she was still a child, her nails were not cut short nor evenly.

The next instance that she brushed her paw gently over the balloon was when it finally went:

_POP!_

"Ah!"

She jumped back in shock. Her ears started to ring so she pressed them down to her head to muffle any further noise from entering.

Judy backed away from the pole. The balloon, now a piece of rubber tied by a string, looked lifeless.

She continued backing away with her ears covered until she bumped into the corner of something.

Turning around in surprise, the booth behind her was one of the fair's dart target games. Except here the targets were inflated balloons, and the players were eagerly throwing sharp objects to make the balloons**—**

_Pop!_

_Pop!_

_Pop!_

Judy stood there, wide eyes and frightened by the sudden onslaught of this terrible noise.

She ran away, stopping to breathe near some lawn tables. A magician was making balloon animals in front of the little kits. Judy surmised he was now creating a bunny balloon.

Unfortunately, he pulled a loop too tight, for the rubber pushed too far to one side which then led to a-

_Pop!_

Judy shrieked hysterically and ran looking for her parents, her ears never perking up from her head the whole way.

Gideon, as expected, never let her live it down. The mild noise of rubber filled with gas breaking open became ten times worse when Judy had to constantly picture his obnoxious laughter coming right after. Throughout her schooling, she became conditioned to control her anxiety around him, and more importantly around balloons.

More often than not, she barely held her fears for enough time to run to the bathroom to take control of herself.

She always managed to run away just in time.

Away from the looks of pity from her peers. Away from the over zealous concern from her teachers and parents. Away from the smarmy teaser that was Gideon Gray.

She hated that he got under her skin, that he dug deep to find a dislike of hers, then made fun of her afterwards. That intrusion was far worse than any physical beatings Gideon could provide.

The thing that hurt the most was that his words rang in her mind stronger when she least wanted it.

_You never know if a balloon gonna pop 'til they do._

She learned to cope, but unlike with her awkward teenage figure, she never grew out of the tenseness she felt when near them.

Judy never looked at a balloon the same way again. It felt embarrassing, and awkward, and pathetic how she was scared by a balloon. A balloon: a colorful sphere filled with helium and tied with a strand of ribbon. A balloon: a symbol of childhood splendor.

Judy Hopps, top of her class, noteworthy member of the Zootopia Police Department… was afraid of _balloons._

Well, the sound of a balloon popping without warning, to be accurate.

But still. _Balloons._ It sounded wrong to her ears, incidentally. It sounded like a fake illness one would nervously spout when push came to shove.

She knew there was nothing physically threatening about balloons. No one could make them scary, no matter how hard they tried. What, was killer clown sending a balloon to lurk around the corner and stalk his victims? As if.

And yet for Judy, they were exactly that: scary as heck because of the humor other animals could get from it.

Her dislike of balloons made her feel like a fool.

The fact that it carried on into her adulthood made her feel even worse.

Why _did_ she harp on this so much? She was an adult now. While Gideon wasn't the nicest to her growing up, he had moved past the ways of his youth.

If Judy had told him now that she had a dislike of balloons because of the incident he caused many years ago, he'd likely wonder why she was bringing something up from the past, why she bothered waiting this long to say something.

So she never did tell Gideon. Nor her parents. Nor anyone in Bunnyburrow.

Only Judy knew this personal fear; it wasn't important anyone else knew, she had decided long ago. People would judge her if they knew. They wouldn't understand. As long as she herself knew what made her fur bristle and her ears perk up in alert, she wouldn't ever need to go beyond her limits.

So it just figured that Nick Wilde would be the one to test her.

Judy knew Nick watched dumb prank videos during the gaps of boring paperwork sessions. He actively showed her such videos, often with a playful laugh and a, "Hey Carrots, check this out."

Of course she had foreseen him doing _something_ one of these days.

It was an easier prediction than Chief Bogo getting mad at Nick for making yet another ill placed joke, or her mom calling to ask if the _entire family_ should come for a visit, or Clawhauser fawning over some celebrity's fawns, or her neighbors loudly debating something miniscule after dinner.

Alas, she could never have foreseen the extent of Nick's prankster ways.

Judy had been sleeping one early morning. Of course she was; she wasn't due to wake up for another hour if not longer. Her cell phone was kept on in case an earth shattering case became available. Luckily no such emergency calls had come through in a while.

That was, until it did.

Her phone rang somewhat loudly, the vibrations moving it slightly on her desk. Judy groaned and rolled on her side, too lazy to want to leave the warm comfort of her bed.

Alas, her neighbors weren't so accommodating. One of them banged on her wall and yelled, "Oh my _godwit_! Shut that phone up already!"

This prompted the other to scream back, "Can you shut your mouth?! I'm trying to sleep!"

Judy hurriedly took off her bed covers from her body. She walked to the desk with her arms hugging herself to keep warm. She peered over her desk to look at her phone. Her phone was glowing the contact picture of a certain fox who enjoyed wearing sunglasses far too often.

She thought she was seeing things. Weird, crazy things.

Was this really _Nick_ calling at - she looked at the clock on her desk that said 4:47am ... _4:47am_? Nick, the fox who was a master at near late arrivals, who slept in until the last possible minute? What was going on?

Judy with a yawn accepted the incoming call from her foxy friend. "'Ello?" she said in a low, tired voice.

"Wakey, wakey!" His voice held so much energy given the time of day. "Today, we should be expecting a total storm. It's gonna bring about a downpour for sure! Bambi, can you tell us more?"

Judy sighed rather loudly at his newscaster schtick. Not because it was bad; he could be a convincing host if Bogo one day decided the fox became unnecessary to the force. After all, he had the smooth voice and witty remarks to suffice several hours of radio entertainment. He could make it well on his own if he had to leave the police department. (She hoped that such a day would never come, though.)

No, she sighed because it was 4 fricking 47 in the morning. Judy didn't consider herself a beauty; most animals didn't. But even she would admit she needed her beauty rest.

"Niiiick…" Judy whined. "What happened?"

"Thought I'd give a wake up call to my favorite bunny officer!"

She twitched her nose in annoyance. She had the habit of doing that, but it's not like Nick would even—

"Don't twitch your nose at me, Carrots. Because c'mon, you are my favorite!"

She placed a paw on her forehead. "It's too early for your jokes. You know that, right?"

He chuckled over the phone. "Luckily for you, Carrots, today is the perfect day for jokes."

She didn't understand what he meant. "Why is today any diff—?"

He playfully interrupted when he said, "See you at work, Carrots!"

The call ended abruptly. She held the phone tightly in her paw. Typical Nick, leaving her hanging.

She looked at the home screen. 4:48am, April 1. Judy placed her phone back on her desk and started to walk back to bed to get a few more minutes of rest.

She then paused and sped back to her phone.

_Wait. _Today wasn't April 1st, was it?

She rapidly clicked on her phone once again and saw the date. Yup, it was April 1st.

Meaning it was April Fool's Day.

Meaning Nick had likely done something at the station and was teasing her to come see.

She slid back into her bed, pulled her sheets over her face and groaned louder than was necessary for a pre-sunrise hour.

A knock on her wall was followed by, "_Keep. It. Down in there!"_

In annoyance she threw off her sheets and stared at the ceiling.

After a few minutes of drowsy decision making, she realized she needed to make sure Nick hadn't broken any laws today. He was good, she knew. But just to make sure he didn't push any limits. The last thing she needed was her partner behind bars.

Judy quickly hopped out of bed. She dressed into her uniform while brushing her teeth. Her normal morning routine was to leave closer to sunrise, but given the circumstances she knew it was best to get there soon.

After getting her dressed and packing her items, she stepped out of her apartment, locked the door, and sped out of the building.

She tried her best to not appear crazed as she ran down the streets to catch the subway.

One relatively quiet and quick train ride later, she walked up to the police station. She typically came in about an hour later, but ultimately it wasn't too much of a difference. The nuance was purely in the amount of animals; very few were actually present at this time.

Admittedly she was still half asleep and tired to notice many outside details. When Judy pulled open the entrance, and a single orange balloon bounced out, she most certainly noticed _that_.

She hopped back in shock and covered her head with her arms. She stood like that for a few seconds before feeling safe that it wasn't going to pop. She kicked the balloon away, careful not to be too rough.

She peered inside and saw hundreds, maybe_ thousands,_ more balloons, all inflated.

_Oh, no. Nick, you didn't…_

She didn't want to go inside. She really didn't. So she yelled to the open doors instead. "Nick?!"

She didn't get a response.

_You never know if a balloon gonna pop 'til they do._

She moaned anxiously. Her leg stamped several times before she told herself to stop.

After inhaling a deep breath, she slowly began to walk inside the building through the mass of balloons. They squeaked against her fur as she moved and a couple of small ones stuck to her like a magnet to a fridge. It was annoying, but as long as they didn't actually _pop,_ she would deal with it.

"Nick!?" she called out again once she was in (what she recalled to be) the main lobby.

Nick suddenly stood up from the masses of balloons, both him and the squeaks of other balloons startling her.

He extended his arms in appraisal. "Hey there, Officer Fuddy Duddy!"

"Nick." Judy folded her arms, an action that took longer than it normally did due to the balloons blocking her arms. Well, less that they were blocking her and more that she didn't want to risk accidentally squeezing too tight. "What are you doing?"

With a smirk he said, "Because you have_ totally_ forgotten what today is."

"Try as I might," she said, "I can't forget." She peered around the room and noticed the large size of some of the balloons. They were comparable to boulders, for crying out loud! "Do I want to know where you got these elephant sized balloons?"

He smugly stared at her. "You answered your own question."

"No, I really…" Judy faltered as she connected her past recollection. "Wait, you don't mean the place that sells Jumbo Pops, do you?" She paused for a second as she stood dumbstruck. "Do they even sell balloons?"

Nick placed a paw on his chest. "They were positively _delighted_ when I asked them if I could buy some of their balloons." He nodded mostly to himself and looked incredibly satisfied with himself. "You know, being a police officer, it has its perks."

Judy pictured a sunglasses-clad Nick strolling into the store, flashing his badge, and merely saying, "Give me all your balloons." Or some wittier variation thereof. It was a funny thought, or at least would have been if she wasn't on the edge at that moment.

She produced a small smile for him, folded her arms, and craned her neck forward as she said aloud, "You mean like having a legal source of tax deductible income?"

Nick pondered for a moment. He then glanced down at his shirt and replied, "The badge isn't bad, either."

Judy froze in shock when she realized that his badge had some pointy bits. Pointy bits that could maybe pop a balloon. She looked down at her own badge, realized her badge was sharp, and stared back at Nick.

He noticed her glance. Raising his brows he said in a teasing tone, "You like the badge too, huh? Makes me look cool, right?"

Judy shook her head. She turned her head around the room, examining the clusters of balloons in every direction she faced. She paused when she felt as though Nick and her were the only mammals in the room. "Cheese and crackers, there are so many balloons..."

"I know, right? We're surrounded by air heads at work, Hopps." Nick kicked a few balloons towards her body. She leered at him and witnessed him trying to mask a laugh.

_You never know if a balloon gonna pop 'til they do._

With a shaky sigh, she asked, "You _really_ needed to pull a prank today, Nick?"

"Yes, I did," he said. He stepped a little closer to her, balloons squeaking away from his body. She winced at the rubbing sound, mentally preparing for one to pop.

"I swear, if it turns out you stole all these balloons..."

He glared back. "Even if I did—which I _didn't, _thank you very much—you should just confess."

She turned her body towards him, her paws positioned on her hips. "Confess what?" He started to move closer to her, forcing her to raise her hands up in protest. "Please stay there!" she said rather over-dramatically, her ears perked up and her eyes wide.

He seemed momentarily perplexed but shook it off. "You said I couldn't do it. That I couldn't prank the entire station at once." He picked up a balloon, this one purple, and smiled at it before tossing it over to her. "The balloon is in your court now, Hopps."

Judy dodged the balloon before looking at her foxy partner with annoyance. "I didn't say you couldn't_, _I said you _shouldn't!_ This is a lame prank, and you know it!" She almost stamped her feet again, but stopped when she saw the balloons at her feet. She instead opted for the stern stare. "You wasted your time."

"You mean, _we_ wasted _our_ time?" He placed a paw to his chest as if to suggest he was offended.

Judy tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"

He gave her a look of smug satisfaction. It was driving her crazy, as it always did. With his paws behind his back, he looked to the balloon covered ground near where his tail usually was and gently kicked there.

"Oh, that's my cue…!" someone muttered giddily.

She recognized the voice. "Is that…?"

From the balloons popped out a chubby cheetah. "It's me, Benjamin Clawhauser!"

Judy stiffened when she saw numerous balloons float around her. With disappointment in her voice she said, "Clawhauser, not you too." She then stared back at Nick.

Nick folded his arms. He didn't seem frightened by her eyes, however. "Admit it, Carrots." He made gestures to emphasize his following words: "We bested you."

"Yeah, Judy, admit it! You have been bested!" Clawhauser was trying (and failing) to mimic the snarky expression Nick was holding.

Judy blunk in annoyance at the two of them.

After a few seconds, Clawhauser not so subtly whispered from the corner of his mouth, "Nick, how long are we supposed to stare at her?"

Nick placed a paw on his forehead and groaned.

Judy was about to say something witty mostly directed to Nick.

Instead she heard a couple of hooves suddenly walk in and pop a few of the balloons on the floor.

Clawhauser and Nick looked towards the direction of the movement, with Judy following suit quickly after.

It was Chief Bogo. Behind him were some other officers. They all seemed equally shocked and bemused.

The Chief gave a good glance around the station before focusing his attention on the fox. "Wiiiiiilde!" Bogo hollered.

"Hey there, Chief!" Nick said nonchalantly while pointing fingers at the buffalo. "What's new?"

Bogo prodded closer to the fox, each step causing some balloons to pop and causing Judy to subtly hop in reaction. Neither Nick nor Clawhauser seemed to notice, however.

Bogo glared at Nick, making the latter slightly slouch in reproach. "Wilde, if I may ask a teensy, weensy question," Bogo started saying with a forced little grin. _"Why is the station filled with balloons!?_ "

Nick glanced up in slight hesitation before responding, "April Fool's…?"

Clawhauser raised his arm eagerly and said, "And I helpe—" When Bogo looked his way, the tone quickly changed as he said, "And I'll be cleaning my desk."

Clawhauser oddly sprinted away, leaving floating balloons behind him. A few balloons went:

_Pop. Pop. Pop._

Judy puffed her cheeks and groaned to herself. She smoothed down her fur so look polished as can be.

Bogo squinted his eyes at Nick. "It's too early in the morning for this, Wilde. We're a police department, not an office of bored workers with nothing better to do with their time."

For the first time in forever, Judy had to internally agree with her boss.

Bogo looked behind him. "Francine, please get something to take care of this mess."

The elephant walked away, her large feet popping several balloons with each step and making Judy wince each time.

Bogo turned back to Nick. Judy could detect Nick was subtly expressing annoyance. Bogo didn't detect this, so he said, "As for you, Wilde, you will not only help clean up your mess, but you have now been designated to paper duty for the rest of the _month_."

Nick grumbled. He peered at Judy, perhaps for some guidance. She only responded by rubbing her arm and looking towards the floor. Eventually Nick replied with a semi-cordial, "Yes, sir."

Francine came back, once again popping a few balloons under her large feet.

She handed Bogo a toothpick. It probably came from the station kitchen, Judy reflected. Francine continued handing out the toothpicks, one for Clawhauser, one for Nick, one for Judy, and so on.

Judy looked at the pointed piece of wood with such distaste it looked as if she was going to throw up. She _did_ feel like throwing up. She knew where this was going.

_You never know if a balloon gonna pop 'til they do._

Judy rubbed her head in an attempt to calm herself.

She then heard Bogo say, "Everyone, start popping."

With no hesitation, Bogo and fellow officers began popping balloons. Toothpicks in inflated rubber made the same noise each time:

_Pop. Pop. Pop._

Each pop rang in Judy's ears and made her shiver internally. She repressed her anxieties with a stiff pose that looked very unnatural.

But still, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, _it just wasn't fair!_

Nick stood with an air of annoyance, as if he was frustrated that all of his handy work was being destroyed.

Though she wouldn't say it out loud, Judy had to give credit where credit was due: it probably took him _all night_ to assemble the barge of balloons. She wondered how tired he was, or if late night shenanigans were his cup of coffee. The fact that he enlisted Clawhauser showed how serious pranking was to Nick. Then again, Clawhauser was probably eager to be naughty.

Regardless of the semantics, Judy was also mad at Nick. Infuriated, even. How dare he not only pull a prank, but a prank on this scale? A prank this time consuming?

A prank with _so many damn_ _balloons_ involved?

Nick eyed her carefully, Judy knew. It was as if he was trying to gauge her reaction, or lack thereof.

Unfortunately for them both, she was not willing to reveal her inner being. She would _not _show her silly fear to anyone, but especially not him. She masked her fears with a dark glare, which wasn't too hard considering she was mad he let this happen in the first place. Eventually, he resumed popping a few more balloons near him.

_Pop. Pop. Pop._

Judy briefly met Nick's eyes. She broke the stare when he raised his ears and became overly intrigued by her harsh manner of looking at him.

She herself made no movement to actually start popping. The paw holding the toothpick refused to move.

Her hesitance did not stop others from deflating the balloons with a toothpick, however.

_Pop._

Judy's ears twitched.

_Pop pop_.

Her fur started sticking up.

_Pop, pop, pop._

Her face puckered into a jumbled mess.

_Pop-pop, pop-pop, pop-pop._

_POP!_ went an elephant sized balloon that someone must have poked.

_Pop pop pop pop pop pop._

_POP!_

_Pop pop pop._

_POP!_

_Pop pop pop… _

This was _Hell_. Noisy, ear ringing, anxiety bringing Hell. What had she done to deserve such torment? Was she being punished for some unknown crime?

She thought back to her not-always-dear grandfather, who wasn't the most politically correct bunny in the world. One of his favorite statements was that foxes were red because they came from evil entities, from the fires of eternal suffering. Judy never believed such a ludicrous claim.

At this moment however, she couldn't help but feel that Nick somehow planned this Hellish spectacle just to mess with her mind. He constantly called himself clever; at that moment she felt "conniving" was a more suitable word to describe him.

She had to escape as soon as possible.

"I just remembered!" Judy yelled at random while combing back her fur to be as flat as possible.

All the animals, Nick included, stopped popping to watch her speak.

"I have parking duty today! Better get on that. Those tickets don't write themselves!"

She awkwardly laughed, wondering how convincing she sounded. For good measure, she added while pointing towards the exit, "I'll just be … there."

Slowly walking backwards, she saw her co-workers look at her like she was crazy. Francine's confusion, and Bogo's shock, and Nick's "Yeah, right" face all came shooting towards her.

For some reason, the latter's face embarrassed her the most. It was as if he was waiting for her to crack so he could commence the teasing.

She wasn't going to give him that liberty.

Bogo, per usual, was the first to speak up. "Hopps. You still have an assignment to do after this. Alone." He sternly looked at the fox, but Nick didn't remove his own gaze of suspicion off of Judy.

She waved her paw in dismissal. "The citizens of Zootopia need me, sir!"

She walked backwards for a few more seconds, forcing a smile at her peers. Opening the doors while moving backwards proved to be challenging, but eventually she was outside in the fresh air.

She inhaled as she nervously greeted some standing officers outside. "Hi, how are you..?" she awkwardly asked them. "Parking duty time, you know?"

She then scampered to the parking lot to the teeny tiny vehicle she had been given her very first day of work at the Zootopia Police Department. That day had been so long ago. While it was far from her favorite mode of transportation, she somewhat respected it's familiarity and low-key profile.

She stepped closer to the car, patted her pocket, and only then realized she didn't have her keys. Of course.

That wasn't important to her at the moment. She turned around so her back was against the car. She scrubbed her face with her paws and inhaled with deliberation. Her nose was twitching slightly. Breathing in and out, she tried to compose herself.

_You never know if a balloon gonna pop 'til they do._

She rubbed her head, hoping the friction could remove the words from her mind and instead remind her she was no longer inside.

"Easy, Judy," she said to herself.

At least she was away from the balloons, from her tormentors, and would not have to deal with any more drama-

"Ahem," she heard from behind her back. She quickly straightened her posture and went about face. Nick had somehow stalked her without noise - maybe she was too busy consoling herself to notice?

Now he was standing a few feet away. He jingled the keys in his paws. "I think you're missing these," he said teasingly.

She sighed and reached for the keys. "Thank you, Nick," she said flatly.

He wasn't so willing to comply, however. He raised the keys higher than his head. "I know what's going on, Carrots."

She twitched her nose. "What's going on? Um, how about, I'm doing my job?"

"You were looking so shocked back in the station."

"Everyone was." She shrugged as normally as possible. "You kinda put balloons everywhere."

"And now you're so eager to do parking duty." He knocked on the hood of the car with his free paw. "We both know how much you love the Meter Maid Mobile."

She really didn't get why he nicknamed things so much. She extended her paw and said, "Please give me the keys, Nick."

"You're trying to run away," he continued. "And I know why."

She looked side to side nervously. "April Fool's…?" she said with a forced grin and an air punch from her arm.

A smirk was his immediate response.

He wasn't going to cut it out, Judy knew. So she hesitantly asked, "Why?"

His smirk only grew. "You _know_ I did an awesome prank. But you're just too scared to admit it." He clicked his tongue. "Scaredy bunny."

She looked up at him shyly and drooped her ears. Well, he was right about one thing: she was scared to admit it. "It" just wasn't the same thing he assumed it was.

"Your prank…" she started.

He leaned in closer. "Yes…?"

What was she doing? He wasn't going to understand. Or if he did, he wasn't going to care. She knew he'd immediately begin the joking. She couldn't handle being made fun of. Not back then, and most certainly not now.

She shook her head. "Was a waste of time."

He didn't seem dejected as he looked aside. "Scaredy bunny," he said again in a light tone.

She angrily jumped up and somehow managed to retrieve the keys from his paw. She unlocked the car and moved to sit inside.

He looked at her through the passenger window. "Carrots, it's April Fool's, everything is all in good fun. Why can't you be a good sport about it?"

She looked at him with half lidded eyes of annoyance. "Well, Nick, not everyone has been a good sport, now have they?" She moved to adjust her hat, but realized it was back at the station. She put her paw back on the steering wheel as swiftly as she could.

He took offense to the statement. Folding his arms he said, "What are you getting—"

She cut him off with the start of the ignition. "I have tickets to write, okay? I'll see you later." And with that, she drove away from an extremely bamboozled Nick.

She drove down the roads in silence for quite some time. Holding in a scowl proved harder and harder. After a few blocks she had become quite a frowny bunny.

She went several more blocks before beginning her parking duty. Or at least try to begin. She was sure she missed some cars on her way here. But frankly, she wasn't caring too much at this time.

Moving block to block in the Meter Maid Mobile, she wrote a ticket for a car or two on each street. She knew she was likely missing the majority of cars, if the noise of several meters that chimed when the parking was no longer valid was any indication. At least those car owners would be grateful for the mercy that was Judy's fickle emotions.

So it went for the next while: drive the car, ticket the others, drive further along, rinse and repeat. She wasn't sure if was minutes or hours—either way it didn't matter as long as she didn't have to go back to the station.

_You never know if a balloon gonna pop 'til they do._

The words rang in her head while driving to her next stop. Judy shook her head to get the thought out. Because she was driving she almost swerved into the wrong lane of the street and bumped into a moving vehicle.

The owner of said car was _not_ pleased considering she heard him yell over the loud engine noises.

"Sorry!" Judy said a bit too late while biting her lip. Focusing on one thing was hard when she was worried about something else. She awkwardly drove away, trying her best to not let the stares of surprised pedestrians distract her even more.

She sighed to herself in disdain.

Parking duty continued on without much action. Which was usually the case, she had to admit.

On one block, near a vacant grassy lot, she was writing up another ticket when she noticed a familiar van. A van she hadn't seen she cracked the Nighthowler's case and had gone searching for Nick after a terrible press conference.

She parked her car, walked over to the van, and after some hesitation knocked on the side.

The fennec fox seemed annoyed as he opened the van door. He muttered something that she could not discern, but his words got cut short when he faced her and realized it was her. "Oh, hey, it's you, Officer."

Judy bowed slightly in acknowledgement. "Afternoon, Finnick," she said with a hand wave.

A lot of seconds passed.

Finnick rubbed the back of his head. He slowly asked, "Are you writing me up?"

Judy glanced down at the parking ticket apparatus she was holding. Immediately after realizing this she shook her head. "No, no, I am just…" She forced a laugh. "In the neighborhood! I saw you were here so I wanted to say hello…"

He looked skeptical. "Uh-huh."

"Anything new?"

"Not much."

"Ah-ha…" Judy awkwardly smiled.

Finnick looked at her like she was crazy.

"Well, have good day!" And with that she began to speed back to her car.

"Officer, I don't know what, but I know _somethin' _is botherin' you," he said rather loudly.

Judy froze in place. She quickly turned around and asked, "What do you mean?"

He pointed to her ears. "Those, for one."

Her ears were droopy, she only now realized. She forcefully pulled them straight with a tug from her arms. "Ah, my hat is missing! Must have left it in the car…"

Slowly her ears started sagging again like a flag in the rain.

Finnick blunk. He did not seem impressed.

She moved closer to him. "That obvious, huh?"

"Like a slap in the face," Finnick said. "So what's happenin'?"

Judy hesitated.

Besides Nick, she didn't have many companions in the city. Heck, she didn't have many back in Bunnyburrow outside of her family.

This lack of companionship wasn't a hindrance to Judy's life, thankfully.

That is, until right that moment.

It felt weird and somewhat unfortunate that she was about to divulge her worries to a casual acquaintance. The circumstance was not ideal whatsoever. But then again, neither was her fear. She needed to talk to someone about it.

Judy rubbed her paws together for a few seconds. Her hesitance was trying to get the better of her, but she wasn't going to give it that liberty.

"April Fool's at the station, basically." She sighed. "Nick pulled a prank today."

"Oh, fo' real?" Finnick asked with intrigue.

"Yeah." She looked to the side while folding her arms. "He somehow got a whole bunch of balloons and filled the entire station with them."

"Oh, damn!" Finnick was loudly cheering with a strong smile on his face. "He actually did it! The bastard actually did it!"

She grimaced down at Finnick. She tried to mute her reaction so as to not offend him.

He detected her distaste anyway. "What's wrong wit' that? You got somethin' against April Fool's and prankin'?"

"Nothing's wrong," she replied a bit too quickly. Her arms flew up in the air in exclamation as she walked in a circle. "It's a great prank. Really. I wasn't expecting it." She paused in her tracks, folded her arms once again, and looked down at her feet.

The cityscape filled the silence for a few seconds.

Finnick gave her a look of knowing. "I sense some deep rooted shit coming out soon," he said plainly.

Judy made a face of repulsion back at him.

He realized what he had said. "Oh, I mean... Oh, damn it, _you know_ what I mean, Officer, a'ight?"

She nodded slowly.

Finnick moved towards a vacant bench by the grass lot and sat down. Patting the space beside him, he smoothly said, "Tell Daddy what's goin' on."

Judy made her way to the bench and sat down a good distance away from him. "I am not calling you 'Daddy'."

He gave a gruff chuckle. "Don't worry, no one eva' does." He then put on his sunglasses. _That's such a Nick move_, Judy thought. "But still, what's on yo' mind?"

Judy inhaled. She had to practice being open sooner or later. "Well, I didn't really like Nick's prank today."

"Mm-hmm." His arms moved behind his head, as if he was half-heartedly listening.

She hesitated for a moment. She glanced down at the fennec for a moment before inhaling a deep breath. "Balloons scare me. They scare me because they pop. I can't really know when a balloon will pop…"

His paw raised up towards her face, interrupting her. He pushed down his glasses with his other paw, looked up at her, and sounded slightly angry as he asked, "And Nick did the prank anyway?"

She drooped her ears so that they were flush with her head. "W-well, technically, he doesn't know."

Finnick took off his glasses and looked at Judy with wide eyes. "Wait, he don't?"

Judy felt as though she was being reprimanded by her teacher.

Funny how she never had a teacher as small as Finnick back in Bunnyburrow.

With self-assuredness, she said, "I know he's gonna call me a 'dumb bunny' and use _allllll_ his stupid jokes." She sheepishly glanced at him. "No offense…"

"Nah, Nick is a dumb idiot. Now, he has his moments." Finnick paused for emphasis. "But he's a lot of dumb, too."

Judy found it odd how Finnick talked down on Nick a lot. But then again she didn't truly know how the two foxes interacted in private.

Finnick contemplated for another second before continuing, "But'cha know, Officer, _you_ _are_ kinda dumb, too."

Judy raised her ears. "Pardon?"

Finnick stood on the bench, probably to better meet her eyes, but in all honesty it didn't make much of a difference. "You are scared of somethin', and Nick does that somethin'. So what'ya do? You drive down 'ere in that child's car tryin' to hide."

She awkwardly said, "He calls it the Meter Maid Mobile." She then folded her arms with a pout. "And I'm _not_ hiding. I'm working."

Finnick didn't seem impressed. "How many tickets you write up so far?"

She proudly smiled as she pulled out her ticket dispenser. "I'll gladly show you how many I-" She saw the number the screen showed. She frowned as she said in a murmur, "Seven." She showed the number to him to prove her point.

"Listen, Officer." Finnick sat back down. "I know a thing or two 'bout hidin'."

"Oh?"

"Big shock, I know. But what you're doin', it's probably the worst way to go 'bout it."

Judy groaned. "You don't get it. He wouldn't care about my feelings on something like this."

Finnick laughed aloud. His laugh was just as deep as his voice.

She looked at his body as his paw repeatedly slapped the bench wood. She asked, "What's so funny?"

He wiped a tear he apparently had produced. "Girl, you have no _clue_ what's goin' on!"

She tilted her head in a perplexing manner.

He continued, "You know _why_ that moron did a prank in the first place?"

Judy shrugged. "I assumed it was something you guys discussed to do?"

Finnick nodded. "That's true. But you know what he _always_ say and never shut up 'bout?"

She shook her head.

Finnick chuckled again. "He be like, 'Juju gonna freak out!', and, 'Juju won't believe I did this!' He really wanna impress, you hear?"

Judy opened her mouth to remind the white fox of her name, because he seemingly forgot it, but she swiftly closed it to reflect. She wondered if Finnick was merely polishing up the details a bit, or if Nick legitimately did refer to her as "Juju" to those he was closely acquainted with. It was a weirdly cute nickname that the fox (possibly) gave her…

She then realized the world's dumbest pun. Nick's nickname. _Nickname. Nick … name._ She prayed her partner would never realize that wordplay. She groaned softly to herself that she even bothered to think of it.

Finnick interrupted her train of thought. "Girl, he never shut up! It was so sappy sweet. And he's gonna be sappy sorry for bein' an idiot!"

She hesitated in swooning over Finnick's revelation. "I don't think he will understand."

"You callin' me a liar?" Finnick asked as he glared at her.

"No!" Judy insisted. "Just, kinda doubtful is all."

"Trust me, Officer." Finnick nodded as he moved his arms to support the back of his head. "He's gonna be all over it." He looked at her with resolve. "And also trust me when I say, he's gonna understand where you be comin' from."

Judy smiled softly. It felt _so_ relieving to be understood by another mammal without rebuke. Another mammal who knew Nick like the back of his paw.

She bent down to sweetly embrace Finnick in her arms. Because he was smaller than her, she ended up lifting him a few inches off the seat.

"Hey, easy, easy!" Finnick protested. He kicked his legs in midair.

Judy realized that he was struggling. She swiftly but carefully placed him back onto the bench. "Sorry," she added meekly.

He brushed off his shirt where her grip had been. He pointed his finger towards her face as if he wanted to scold, but he then waved his paw in dismissal. "Whatev', it's cool."

Judy inhaled a deep breath. It felt refreshing to finally have a clue as to what to do next. "You're right about one thing, though."

"And that would be?"

"His prank did leave me speechless."

Finnick chuckled. "All the more reason to tell 'im now." He rubbed his chin. "You know, unless you want a birthday balloon blowout..."

"No, I do not." She shuddered. "But you're right. I'll go back to the station and tell Nick straight up. No backing out!" She held a pose of determination, like a superhero posing for the poster of the most anticipated movie of the year.

"That's the spirit, Officer," he said with a smirk. "But how 'bout _now_ now?"

Judy perked up her ears. "What?"

Finnick clicked his tongue and pointed down the road. She followed the direction with her eyes.

A red fox wearing sunglasses was walking along the pavement.

_Nick._

Judy glanced in uncertainty.

Nick was likely looking for her. But why? Maybe Bogo had sent him? She did skimp out on her actual duties for the day. It would make sense for her partner to come retrieve her. Or maybe Nick had snuck out from cleaning up his prank? Now that was very him. But regardless, he was coming to speak with her, most definitely.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't see the white fox slide off the bench and skiddadle back into his van.

He shut the door loudly, prompting her to turn her neck and face him one last time. He looked at her with his tuff smile as he placed on his sunglasses.

"Nice talkin' to you, Officer! Don't'cha be dumb like Nick, now!" Following his proclamation, Finnick rolled up his driver's side window and swiftly drove off.

Judy stood there watching the van rollaway for a few seconds down the street.

Then she looked back at the red fox. He had clearly heard them and was now jaywalking to get closer to her.

Even from this distance Judy could tell Nick was detectably frowning. Finnick probably intended to be loud enough for any passerby to hear, and for Nick to get a friendly verbal attack.

After several more seconds passed, she heard the signature "Carrots" come from his mouth.

Judy stiffened, then let out an exhale. "Nick." She slowly turned to face him.

He was wearing his de facto sunglasses. With a paw, he slid them down his snout and raised a brow.

Judy didn't say anything.

He slid his glasses back up to cover his eyes. "Did you write up Finnick?"

"No, we just talked."

"How's he doing?"

She softly stroked her arm. "He's hunky dorey."

"Hmm." He looked to the side before asking, "And you?"

She suddenly felt skittish. Her determination had flown away in the breeze. "What about me?"

He looked at her for a few seconds. He then took off his glasses with a sigh. His eyes showed concern.

"You just _ran_ out there, Carrots. You ran and you said I'm not a good sport. What's going on?" He pointed to the teensy vehicle she had used to get here. "I mean, you hate the Meter Maid Mobile!"

Judy looked down to the sidewalk.

"Carrots," he repeated.

"I'm sorry I said that to you," she said. "That wasn't nice of me to say, and I shouldn't have hurt your feelings as badly as I did. You didn't do anything to deserve that."

While a look of understanding filled his face, he still chose to fold his arms. "Thank you, but you're stalling."

She groaned. Maybe she shouldn't tell him right now, it was too much and she felt like it was going to ruin her.

"Let's just get back to the station. It's not really important why I left. It's dumb." She walked over to the driver's side of the Meter Maid Mobile, opened the door, and sat inside. "C'mon, we need to get back soon."

She did not want to go back, not if all those balloons were still there, and not if they were still popping them.

She was already starting to panic at the prospect of returning. Her nose started twitching and her breathing became more purposeful.

With watchful eyes he made his way to the passenger seat while she fastened her seat belt.

When she reached for the gear shift to pull into reverse, he placed his paw on top and held her still.

Her nose was twitching more frequently and her eyes began to water. But for the sake of all that was good, she was _not_ going to freak out in front of Nick. Not about _this. _It wasn't going to end well for her if she did.

She hesitantly looked up at his face. He held the concerned gaze from before.

"Please tell me what's wrong, Judy." He slowly lifted her paw away from the gear shift on to her lap.

She perked her ears slightly. He rarely called her by her given name. He must have been seriously concerned by her demeanor.

"There's nothing to say," she lied.

"Really now?" he said in a low voice.

She adjusted the rearview mirror. "Yup."

Nick laughed. It wasn't his typical laugh, however. It was more of a laugh that one gave when they were exhausted. Given that he had been pulling an all-nighter for the prank, and that he more likely than not got scolded by Bogo, and that he spent time looking for her, him being tired was a reasonable expectation.

"Guess I'm a dumb fox, then," he said. He gave her an awkward smile, one where his teeth were partially showing and where one of his eyes was being squinted. "Coulda swore something was on your mind."

With a forced gruff tone she started saying, "Well, then maybe you _are_ a dumb…"

But Judy couldn't finish the sentence.

She could never finish that sentence with legitimacy. No, he wasn't a dumb fox. He was a clever one. He knew something was up. He could sense it, Judy knew. He sensed, but he didn't know the facts. She knew the facts. She should just tell him, like what Finnick said. But it was too hard to be that honest. But if she didn't, Nick would need to play the guessing game for a while. But if she did, he'd probably make fun of her. But…

_You never know if a balloon gonna pop 'til they do._

In a frustrated movement, she banged her head against the steering wheel, causing the car to echo a long beep.

The sudden noise startled Nick, who jumped a little in his seat.

But it was nowhere near as loud as what she yelled next.

"_I HATE BALLOONS_!"

He raised his ears in curiosity.

"I _hate_ balloons when they pop." Judy rested her head on the steering wheel. The beeping stopped, and now she couldn't contain her tears of frustration anymore. She didn't know why she felt like crying now while when she was with Finnick it had been easier to control.

"They scare me, alright? They really do. And I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, 'Judy Hopps, bravest cop on the force, scared by the popping of balloons?' I _know_ you, Nick. And I _know_ you're thinking that I can't _really_ be afraid of balloons!"

Tears were running down her cheeks. She swallowed hard as she looked into his eyes.

Nick seemed lost for words.

"Well_, yes! I am!_" She rolled out the words in emphasis. "I am scared of that _stupid noise_! If balloons didn't pop, it'd be okay." She took a shaky breath. "But they _always_ pop at the worst time, and I can't do _anything_ to make sure a balloon won't pop. Because they always _will _pop, and I _hate_ being near them because I don't know when they'll pop, and…" She covered her face with her paws and vented not so quietly.

"Judy."

She continued making noises of discomfort.

He gently pet her back. "_Judy_."

She shoved his paw away with force. "Go ahead, Nick! Tell me I'm an idiot to be scared of some inanimate object!"

"Do you want me to do that?" He didn't sound teasing as much as he did concerned.

Judy gasped for air between sniffles. "No, please don't…"

"Then I won't," he replied matter of factly. "Why would I make fun of you for being afraid of something?" He used his arms to motion her way. "I mean look at yourself, Carrots! You're a wreck enough as it is!"

She leered at him. Her fur was wet from tears and looked rather sickly. Her breathing was erratic and heavy.

Nick backtracked a little, seeming uncomfortable at the words he had chosen. "What I meant to say," he said carefully as he gripped on to his arms. "Is that, don't let yourself be ashamed for feeling scared." A pause. "Please. You don't deserve to feel that way."

Her breaths were shallow as she sniffled a few times. "But it's a stupid reason to be afraid."

He raised a brow at her. "Says who?"

"Says me!"

He scoffed. "Well then, you _are _one dumb bunny."

She looked down at her feet in shame.

"You're dumb to think I wouldn't understand another mammal's fears. That I would just be a jerk dealing with your feelings."

The answer surprised her. She wasn't expecting him _not_ to tease. It made her feel off balance.

She glanced his way in shock but did not say anything.

Nick sighed. He loosened his grip and looked out the front window of the Meter Maid Mobile. She noticed him rub the lens of his sunglasses gently with his paw pads. He seemed tense at that moment.

He then abruptly turned his head to face her. "Do you really think I'd do that? That I'd intentionally make you feel _this terrified,_ only to laugh in your face about it afterwards?"

_That's what Gideon did_, Judy thought.

She scratched her head and mulled for a few seconds of a proper response to speak. "I was afraid the teasing would become too much," she answered honestly. Her voice sounded tinny and dry.

He stared at her for what seemed like minutes. He could capture her in that gaze if he used it frequently. It was intense and serious and … empowering. She found him extraordinarily empowering in that moment. And yet all he did was stare.

He broke the stare first. "Look," he said softly. "I'm sorry I scared you today. I wasn't trying to provoke you. I didn't know." Nick's ears flattened a bit against his head.

Judy smiled somberly as a few straggling tears fell down her cheeks. "It's okay. Most everybody doesn't know."

"You, uh…" He swallowed, trying to think of the best words to say. "You've been keeping this in for a while now, haven't you?"

She wiped the wetness away from her eyes. "Maybe a little."

"Since you were a kid?"

"Pretty much." She looked out her window as she continued in a low voice, "Juju no likey balloons."

Though her back was turned, she still saw his incredulous reaction through the reflection on the driver's side window. "What?" he said as if she had spoken French.

"It's not your fault," she said while looking back at him as casually as possible. "It's just, you know, bunnies get really skittish sometimes." A beat. _"...I_ get skittish sometimes."

"Juju…" he said, more to himself than to her. He seemed either surprised that she had referred to herself in that way, or shocked that she knew the nickname.

At that moment he seemed to realize something and blunk. Holding his eyes shut for a few seconds, he then started a new dialogue.

"So I'm guessing this has been the worst April Fool's day in your life?"

"Eh…" She moved her hands in a _so-so_ gesture, as if she was balancing a marble on the back of her paw. "I've had better. No offense."

"None taken."

She slid down her seat. "It was cool that you did all that work for a prank, though."

Ears perked up; he seemed excited by her words. "You - really?"

"Uh-huh. You are definitely better at pranks than me, that's for sure. I could have never pulled it off. Just because I didn't like it, doesn't mean I can't see all that went into it."

He let loose a laugh. "Thank you." He looked so happy to get an acknowledgement from her.

She gave him a shy thumbs up in response.

They sat in the car quietly for a short while. They merely stared out to the bustling city, watching various cars drive past them, seeing different animals walk in and out of buildings, hearing the noises Zootopia had to offer.

Suddenly Nick said, "We don't have to go back just yet. You know, if you're still feeling kind of..." He rolled his paw as he searched for the right word. "… jumpy. I'll take you wherever you want."

She looked at him with suspicion in her eyes. "You're just looking for the rest of the day off. "

He looked at her for a few seconds before focusing on the windshield. Smirking slightly, he said, "Hey, that's not _completely_ true…" Going off her curious expression, he continued, "They're still sorting the station out. It wouldn't be right to go back there and make you deal with it too."

Appreciation was what Judy felt at that point. Appreciation that she now had freedom to speak of this matter without fear.

"Maybe you're right." She gave her own small smirk right back at him. "I hope you're not disappointed you're missing work because of me. After all, we both know how much you love paperwork."

"As much as you love parking duty." He placed his sunglasses back on. "And anything to help out my favorite bunny officer. Call it the 'Code of the Clever Cop'."

"You made that up." He glanced at her with a baffled face, prompting her to clarify, "There's no such code."

"Says who?" He asked again, this time with a much more playful tone. "It's not as if you read and memorized that _entire_ police codes of conduct manual when you started working here."

She puffed her cheeks awkwardly as she moved her head to face away from him.

He pulled his glasses down his snout. "Seriously, Carrots?" he said flatly. His face held amusement; perhaps he was amused that she took the literature respectfully.

"I just wanted to make sure that there were no weird differences in laws between Bunnyburrow and Zootopia!" A pout came on her face.

He turned up his nose and pushed his glasses back up. "Anything interesting?"

She shrugged. "Well, for one example, Zootopia actually allows supermarkets to sell wines and spirits, even on the weekends, so long as the customer is of legal drinking age."

A smug expression filled his face. "Don't get drunk on the job, Hopps. Life is scary enough as it is."

"Hmm." She rubbed her eyes that were finally starting to dry up. "What was that you said earlier? _Anywhere_ I want?"

Nick nodded. "I'll need to be the one driving, though. It's my treat."

"I can drive us wherever I want us to go."

"That's lame," he said with a frown.

"As lame as popping balloons."

"Now that," he said while pointing to her face. "Is incredibly accurate." He looked at her more intently. "But still, give me the wheel."

She didn't give him the wheel. She instead sat there, wondering if she should take him up on his offer. It was kind of him to want to make her feel better. "Sappy sweet", as Finnick would probably phrase it.

A thought from the back of her mind began to rear its way onto her train of thought. It once was a source of displeasure, that thought, but now it was teasing her with the possibility of joy. Or perhaps it was her inner masochist wanting to do things that she knew had brought fear and worries in the past without care for the consequences.

Either way, she knew she had to ask.

"How do you feel about County Fairs, Nick?"

His ears perked up and his eyes widened. He seemed taken aback by her sporadic question.

Turning his head to look out the window momentarily before looking straight at her, he replied, "Um… I've never been to one." He eyed her carefully. "Why do you ask?"

"Would you like to see one with me?" She propped her head on her elbow. "You know, back in Bunnyburrow?"

It took a while for his sputters to die down. She snickered to herself at his, as usual, over dramatic behavior.

He eventually responded with, "Any reason in particular..?"

"Because…" She twitched her nose and looked to her rearview mirror. Softly she added, "I might finally enjoy one after all these years if you came with me?"

He didn't speak for several seconds.

The quiet lull made her nervous. Facing him, she said with speed in her voice, "Don't worry, it's not something I am dying to do. They are run-of-the-mill affairs and kinda predictable."

"Carrots."

"You're probably right, it wouldn't be fun anyway."

He pressed his paw against her nose. The unexpected touch made her abruptly stop talking. Her eyes met his. "I didn't give you an answer yet," he said plainly.

She gently shoved his paw away and glanced to the side. "I know your answer already."

"Like you knew how I was going to react to your fear?"

She froze, realizing he had a point. "What's the verdict?" she asked slowly.

Pondering for a moment, he then said, "Do these fairs have blueberry pie contests?"

She immediately knew where he was going with this. "They do, yes."

"What happens to the winning pies?"

"They get ribbons. I know my mom won a few in the past few years." Judy tilted her head in reminiscence. "Then they get eaten."

Nodding, Nick said, "And the losers?"

With a small laugh she said, "They also get eaten."

Making a fist with one paw and pounding it into his other open paw, he seemed convinced as he declared, "We're going to the next one."

"Gee, doesn't take much to convince you, huh?" She coyly folded her arms and placed them on her lap.

"_Blueberry pies_," he said with emphasis. A brief flash of seriousness filled his face. "I may be an unintentional jerk—"

Judy playfully laughed. "Sometimes."

A quick glare from him was followed by, "But if there's one thing I know, is that I really want to try your mom's pie."

Wincing, Judy said, "_Please_ rephrase that, Nick."

He paused as if to think on what he just said. But instead of becoming embarrassed, he looked amused. "You kind of do have a hard time laughing something off, don't you?"

"I do not!" She combed back her ears. "But you can't say things like, 'try your mom's pie' without it sounding weird."

His paw waved in dismissal. "Things only become weird when you make them weird, Judy."

Nick took off his sunglasses and looked at her face for a few seconds.

Judy was still slightly flustered from the frustrated crying she had done earlier. While rubbing her cheek which was still slightly damp from her tears, she made a hum of agreement to what he had just said.

She smiled softly at him, which he mirrored with his own grin.

He must have realized he was staring, because he quickly changed his gaze to out the windshield, his paws rubbing his glasses in the meanwhile.

"I know it's probably hard for someone who needs to read manuals before she does anything, though."

She stopped rubbing her cheek. "I can improvise," she muttered. "I did that today, right?"

"Your game needs work," he replied without hesitation.

She gave him an aghast look. "Excuse me?"

"For starters," he said as if she didn't have a snide tone, "You shouldn't be so obvious when it comes to hiding something. You need to show yourself as having no secrets, even when you do."

"You'd know a lot about that, wouldn't you?" She asked softly, with no teasing or mocking injected into her voice. She knew Nick was somewhat private with his past. The last thing she wanted was to make him feel as though she was laughing at his vulnerability, when minutes ago she was terrified of him doing the same to her.

He nodded awkwardly and stayed quiet for a moment. "Plus you picked a _terrible_ hiding place. Any moron with two eyes could have found you." A beat. "Even a blind bat, probably."

Funny how he and Finnick agreed that she wasn't good at hiding in plain sight.

Smiling mostly to herself, she said, "Maybe it was for the best that I got found today."

He didn't turn his head to look her way, but she still saw a new small smile come on his face. "Well, I was always the best at hide and seek."

She looked up at him with a cheeky grin. "You said it yourself: any _moron _could have found me."

Eventually, when he realized he had dug his own grave, he pouted and gave a low moan of annoyance. Placing a paw on his radio, he pretended to press a button. "Dispatch, send backup immediately. I've been shot in the heart by a rogue bunny."

She groaned at his joke.

Yet she did not hesitate in hugging him immediately after.

He hitched a quick breath; she felt this movement as her arms were wrapped around his torso.

His arms eventually made their way to the top of her head, where he began to pat her behind the ears. His touches were light and calming.

Her voice slightly muffled against his shirt, she said, "Thank you for not making fun of me about you-know-what."

Clearing his throat, Nick said, "Don't worry; I'll find something else to bug you with later."

Judy groaned in his sleeve. "You ruined the mood."

"What mood were you aiming for?" he asked as he gently pulled up one of her ears to better meet her eyes.

"Probably peace and quiet. A girl can only take so much of you at a time."

He pouted. "You're hurting my feelings."

She hesitated in speaking before finally asking, "I'm not hurting you really, am I?"

He made an iffy sound before looking down at her. "If you count killing me with kindness." He patted her head again.

She placed her head back on his shoulder and said nothing more. She instead opted to enjoy the silence that surrounded them.

For a grand total of ten seconds.

"Bogo is gonna be extra pissed when we get back to the station, isn't he?" Judy asked.

Nick exhaled. "Can't be helped."

She contemplated a few seconds before pushing herself off Nick's arm. She rubbed her cheek where the fur was slightly matted to fluff it up again. "You think he likes donuts?"

Nick gave a knowing chuckle. "I know someone for certain does."

Judy nodded. "Wanna get donuts for everyone, then say that's why I left so abruptly?" Nick didn't make an expression, which made Judy unsurely add, "To get donuts for everyone after the cleanup was done…?"

Nick blunk his eyes. Twice. "That plan sounds lazily put together."

"I can pay for some blueberry donuts for you." She bit her lip. "You know, if you feel kinda … jumpy."

He glanced down at her for a second before putting on his sunglasses, fastening his seat belt, and resting his back against the back of his seat. "You have the wheel, Hopps."

"Yes!" Judy said as she fist pumped the air. She quickly fastened her seat belt, adjusted the rear view mirror for good measure, and pulled out onto the street and to the donut shop where the sweet food awaited them.

When they'd return to the station, the donuts would hopefully be enough of a bargaining piece for Bogo to not impose too harsh a sentence. The balloons would hopefully be gone by then as well. But even if they weren't, at least she now knew Nick was not going to instigate anything. He'd probably try to make things easier for her. If nothing else, he now knew to never give her balloons for her birthday. That was a win in Judy's mind.

For a day called April Fool's, Judy had to admit: this was the first day in a long time where she no longer felt like a fool for her fear of balloons popping.


End file.
